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Bela Lugosi is a Actor American born on 17 october 1882 at Lugoj (Roumanie)

Bela Lugosi

Bela Lugosi
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Birth name Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó
Nationality USA
Birth 17 october 1882 at Lugoj (Roumanie)
Death 16 august 1956 (at 73 years) at Los Angeles (USA)

Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó (20 October 1882 – 16 August 1956), better known as Bela Lugosi, was a Hungarian-American actor, famous for portraying Count Dracula in the original 1931 film and for his roles in various other horror films.

He had been playing small parts on the stage in his native Hungary before making his first film in 1917, but had to leave the country after the failed Hungarian Revolution. He had roles in several films in Weimar Germany before arriving in America as a seaman on a merchant ship.

In 1927, he appeared as Count Dracula in a Broadway adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel, where he was talent-spotted as a character actor for the new Hollywood talkies. He later appeared in the classic 1931 film Dracula by Universal Pictures. Through the 1930s, he occupied an important niche in popular horror films, with their East European setting, but his Hungarian accent limited his repertoire, and he tried unsuccessfully to avoid typecasting.

Meanwhile, he was often paired with Boris Karloff, who was able to demand top billing. To his frustration, Lugosi was increasingly restricted to minor parts, kept employed by the studio principally for the sake of his name on the posters. Among his pairings with Karloff, only in The Black Cat (1934), The Raven (1935), and Son of Frankenstein (1939) did he perform major roles again, and, even in The Raven, Karloff received top billing despite Lugosi performing the lead role.

By this time, Lugosi had been receiving regular medication for sciatic neuritis, and he became addicted to morphine and methadone. This drug dependence was noted by producers, and the offers eventually dwindled down to a few parts in Ed Wood's low-budget movies, most notably Plan 9 from Outer Space.

Lugosi was married five times, and had one son, Bela George Lugosi.

Bela Lugosi was a charter member of the American Screen Actors Guild.

Biography

In 1917, Lugosi married Ilona Szmik. The couple divorced in 1920, reputedly over political differences with her parents.

In 1929, Lugosi took his place in Hollywood society and scandal when he married wealthy San Francisco widow Beatrice Weeks, but she filed for divorce four months later. Weeks cited actress Clara Bow as the "other woman".

In 1933 he married 19-year-old Lillian Arch, the daughter of Hungarian immigrants. They had a child, Bela G. Lugosi, in 1938.

Lillian and Bela, as well as his mother, vacationed on their lake property in the Southern California community of Lake Elsinore (then called Elsinore) on two lots between 1944 and 1953. Bela Lugosi Jr., attended the Elsinore Naval & Military School in Lake Elsinore. Lillian and Béla divorced in 1953, at least partially because of Béla's jealousy over Lillian taking a full-time job as an assistant to Brian Donlevy on the sets and studios for Donlevy's radio and television series Dangerous Assignment — Lillian eventually did marry Brian Donlevy, in 1966.

Lugosi married Hope Lininger, his fifth wife, in 1955. She had been a fan of his, writing letters to him when he was in the hospital recovering from addiction to Demerol. She would sign her letters 'A dash of Hope'. She was his widow, and died in 1997 at age 77.

Best films

Ninotchka (1939)
(Actor)

Usually with

Boris Karloff
Boris Karloff
(14 films)
Ed Wood
Ed Wood
(4 films)
Jack Pierce
Jack Pierce
(12 films)
Tod Browning
Tod Browning
(4 films)
Sam Katzman
Sam Katzman
(9 films)
Source : Wikidata

Filmography of Bela Lugosi (113 films)

Display filmography as list

Actor

Ed Wood
Ed Wood (1994)
, 2h7
Directed by Tim Burton
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Biography, Comedy, Comedy-drama, Historical
Themes Films about films, Films about sexuality, Films about television, LGBT-related films, Transgender in film, LGBT-related films, LGBT-related film, Cross-dressing in film
Actors Johnny Depp, Martin Landau, Patricia Arquette, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jeffrey Jones, Lisa Marie
Roles (archive footage)
Rating77% 3.898163.898163.898163.898163.89816
In 1952, Ed Wood (Johnny Depp) is struggling to join the film industry. Upon hearing of an announcement in Variety magazine that producer George Weiss (Mike Starr) is trying to purchase Christine Jorgensen's life story, Ed is inspired to meet Weiss in person. Weiss explains that Variety‍ '​s announcement was a news leak, and it is impossible to purchase Jorgensen's rights. The producer decides to "fictionalize" the film, titled I Changed My Sex!. Ed tries to convince Weiss that he is perfect to direct I Changed My Sex! because he is a transvestite, but is unsuccessful since Weiss wants a director with experience. One day, Ed meets his longtime idol Bela Lugosi (Martin Landau), after spotting him trying out a casket. Ed drives Bela home and the two become friends. Later, Wood persuades Weiss to let him direct I Changed My Sex! by convincing him that having a star in the film would sell tickets, and they could sign Bela for a low price.
Terror in the Aisles, 1h24
Origin USA
Genres Thriller, Fantastic, Documentary, Anthology film, Horror
Themes Films about films, Documentary films about business, Documentary films about the film industry, Documentary films about films
Actors Donald Pleasence, Nancy Allen, Bud Abbott, Michael Ironside, Fred Asparagus, Brooke Adams
Roles Count Dracula (Archive Footage)
Rating62% 3.148153.148153.148153.148153.14815
Director Andrew J. Kuehn has excerpted brief segments of terror and suspense in a wide variety of suspenseful (including humorously so, ex. Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein, Saturday the 14th) films and strung them together with added commentary, as well as some enacted narrative, to create a compilation of fright-inducing effects. Halloween actor Donald Pleasence and Dressed to Kill star Nancy Allen provide the commentary on topics such as "sex and terror" (Dressed to Kill, Klute, Ms. 45, The Seduction, When a Stranger Calls), loathsome villains (Dracula, Frankenstein, Friday the 13 1 and/or 2, Halloween I and II, Marathon Man, Nighthawks, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Touch of Evil, Vice Squad, Wait Until Dark, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?), "natural terror" (Alligator, The Birds, Frogs, Jaws 1 and 2, Nightwing) and the occult (An American Werewolf in London, Rosemary's Baby, The Exorcist, The Omen, Carrie, The Shining). In one segment of the anthology, legendary filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock presents his concepts of how to create suspense in a clip from Alfred Hitchcock: Men Who Made The Movies.
Madhouse
Madhouse (1974)
, 1h32
Directed by Jim Clark
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Thriller, Horror, Crime, Slasher
Themes Films about animals, Natural horror films, Serial killer films
Actors Vincent Price, Peter Cushing, Robert Quarry, Adrienne Corri, Natasha Pyne, Linda Hayden
Roles (archive footage)
Rating61% 3.099283.099283.099283.099283.09928
Paul Toombes (Vincent Price) is a successful horror actor whose trademark role was Dr. Death, a skull-faced sadist. During a party in Hollywood showing off his fifth Dr. Death film, he announces his engagement to Ellen Mason (Julie Crosthwait), who gives him an engraved watch as an engagement gift; later that evening, however, adult film producer Oliver Quayle (Robert Quarry) reveals Ellen had worked for him previously. Distraught at Toombes' reaction, Ellen returns to her room, where a masked man in dark garb, similar to Dr. Death's attire, approaches her with a knife. An apologetic Toombes comes in shortly after, only for her decapitated head to fall from her shoulders. Though he is acquitted of the crime, Toombes' career is destroyed as he spends several years in a mental hospital, where even he is not sure whether he killed Ellen or not.
The World of Abbott and Costello, 1h15
Directed by Sidney Miller
Origin USA
Genres Comedy
Actors Bud Abbott, Jack E. Leonard, Lou Costello, Tom Ewell, Margaret Hamilton, Bela Lugosi
Roles Count Dracula (archive footage)
Rating64% 3.238663.238663.238663.238663.23866
This film is a compilation of scenes from eighteen films that Abbott and Costello made for Universal Pictures between 1941 and 1955. Comedian Jack E. Leonard provides the narration for the film, which incorporates scenes from the following films:
Plan 9 from Outer Space, 1h19
Directed by Ed Wood
Origin USA
Genres Science fiction, Fantastic, Horror
Themes Medical-themed films, Films set in the future, Films about extraterrestrial life, Zombie films, Films about viral outbreaks, Films about extraterrestrial life, Alien invasions in films, Disaster films
Actors Gregory Walcott, Tom Keene, Tor Johnson, Duke Moore, Dudley Manlove, Bunny Breckinridge
Roles Ghoul Man
Rating39% 1.952271.952271.952271.952271.95227
At the funeral of an Old Man's wife, mourners are gathered by an open grave, among them her husband (Bela Lugosi). Overhead, an airliner is heading towards Burbank, California. The pilot Jeff Trent (Gregory Walcott) and his co-pilot Danny (David De Mering) are blinded by a bright light and loud sound. They look outside and see a flying saucer. The pilots follow the saucer's flight until it lands at the graveyard, where the funeral's gravediggers are killed by a female zombie (Maila Nurmi).
The Black Sleep, 1h22
Directed by Reginald Le Borg
Origin USA
Genres Science fiction, Horror
Actors Basil Rathbone, Akim Tamiroff, Lon Chaney, Jr., John Carradine, Bela Lugosi, Patricia Blair
Roles Casimir
Rating60% 3.001233.001233.001233.001233.00123
Set in England in 1872, the story concerned a prominent, knighted surgeon whose wife has fallen into a coma caused by a deep-seated brain tumor. Due to medicine's state of the art at the time, he does not know how to reach the tumor without risking brain damage or death to the woman he loves, so he undertakes to secretly experiment on the brains of living, but involuntary, human subjects who are under the influence of a powerful Indian anesthetic, Nind Andhera, which he calls the "Black Sleep". Once he has finished his experiment, surviving subjects are revived and placed, in seriously degenerated and mutilated states, in a hidden cellar in the gloomy, abandoned country abbey where he conducts his experiments.
Bride of the Monster, 1h8
Directed by Ed Wood
Origin USA
Genres Science fiction, Horror
Themes Films about writers, Films about journalists, Films about music and musicians, Musical films
Actors Bela Lugosi, Loretta King, Tor Johnson, Harvey B. Dunn, Dolores Fuller, Paul Marco
Roles Dr. Eric Vornoff
Rating41% 2.0544552.0544552.0544552.0544552.054455
The film opens to the scene of an old, dark house in a stormy night. In the nearby woods, two hunters are caught in the "raging thunderstorm". Their conversation reveals that every night of the previous three months had its own storm, which the hunters find to be unnatural weather. They decide to seek refuge in Willows House, identifying the old house, which is supposedly abandoned and haunted. When they reach Willows House, they find it to be occupied and the current owner repeatedly denies them hospitality. One of the hunters attempts to use his rifle to force his entry into the house, but at this point a menacing giant (played by Tor Johnson) appears and scares the intruders away.
Glen or Glenda, 1h5
Directed by Ed Wood
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Comedy, Documentary
Themes Films about sexuality, Erotic films, Sexploitation films, LGBT-related films, Transgender in film, Documentaire sur l'homosexualité, LGBT-related films, LGBT-related film, Cross-dressing in film
Actors Ed Wood, Dolores Fuller, Timothy Farrell, Bela Lugosi, Lyle Talbot, Daniel Davis
Roles Scientist
Rating42% 2.1031152.1031152.1031152.1031152.103115
The film begins with a narrator, called The Scientist, making cryptic comments about humanity. He first comments that humanity's constant search for the unknown, results in startling things coming to light. But most of these "new" discoveries are actually quite old, to which he refers to as "the signs of the ages". Later, the scene turns to the streets of a city, with the narrator commenting that each human has his/her own thoughts, ideas, and personality. He makes further comments on human life, while sounds accompany some comments. The cries of a newborn baby are followed by the sirens of an ambulance. One is a sign that a new life has begun, the other that a life has ended.
Mother Riley Meets the Vampire, 1h14
Directed by John Gilling
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Comedy, Horror comedy, Horror
Themes Comedy horror films
Actors Bela Lugosi, Dora Bryan, Richard Wattis, Graham Moffatt, David Hurst, Judith Furse
Roles Von Housen
Rating38% 1.9218351.9218351.9218351.9218351.921835
Von Housen seeks to dominate the world from his headquarters in London with an army of 50,000 radar controlled robots powered by uranium. He believes himself to be a vampire and has several young women abducted, most recently Julia Loretti who has a map to a uranium mine that he needs for his army.
Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla, 1h14
Directed by William Beaudine
Origin USA
Genres Science fiction, Comedy, Horror comedy, Horror, Comic science fiction
Themes Comedy science fiction films, Comedy horror films
Actors Bela Lugosi, Duke Mitchell, Sammy Petrillo, Muriel Landers, Al Kikume, Mickey Simpson
Roles Dr. Zabor
Rating37% 1.8576551.8576551.8576551.8576551.857655
On their way to perform in Guam for the troops, nightclub performers Duke Mitchell and Sammy Petrillo find themselves stranded on a seemingly treacherous island, known by the natives as "Kola Kola". The natives are quite friendly, especially Nona, the tribal chief's daughter, who tries to help the two get off the island. Though Paradise has been found, for the time being, the duo soon discovers that a mad scientist named Dr. Zabor (Bela Lugosi), lives on the other side of the island. Seeing a chance to get help, the two visit the strange doctor. Tension mounts as Duke falls in love with Nona. Seeing Duke as a threat, a jealous Dr. Zabor plans to literally make a monkey out of Duke, for he too loves Nona. Sammy tries to help his pal, with unexpected results.
Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein, 1h23
Directed by Charles Barton
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Horror comedy, Horror
Themes Films about animals, Films about computing, Films about magic and magicians, Films based on science fiction novels, Comedy science fiction films, Wolves in film, Dracula films, Frankenstein films, Werewolves in film, Vampires in film, Comedy horror films, Cyberpunk films, Buddy films, Mise en scène d'un mammifère
Actors Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Lon Chaney, Jr., Bela Lugosi, Glenn Strange, Jane Randolph
Roles Count Dracula
Rating72% 3.648043.648043.648043.648043.64804
Lawrence Talbot (Lon Chaney, Jr.) is making an urgent call from London to a Florida railway station where Chick Young (Bud Abbott) and Wilbur Grey (Lou Costello) work as baggage clerks. Wilbur answers the phone and Talbot tries to impart to him the danger of a shipment due to arrive for the "McDougal House Of Horrors" (a local wax museum) which purportedly contains the actual bodies of Count Dracula (Béla Lugosi) and the Frankenstein Monster (Glenn Strange). However, before he is able to warn Wilbur, a full moon rises and Talbot transforms into a werewolf, who proceeds to destroy his apartment while Wilbur is on the line. Wilbur, thinking the call is just a prank, hangs up and continues on with his work day. Immediately thereafter, the actual Mr. McDougal (Frank Ferguson) shows up to claim the shipments and, fearing them damaged when Wilbur and Chick mishandle them, demands that the crates be delivered in person so his insurance agent can inspect them.
Scared to Death, 1h7
Directed by Christy Cabanne
Origin USA
Genres Thriller, Fantastic, Comedy, Horror
Actors Bela Lugosi, George Zucco, Nat Pendleton, Molly Lamont, Joyce Compton, Roland Varno
Roles Prof Leonide
Rating41% 2.0611252.0611252.0611252.0611252.061125
The film opens with the disclosure by morgue examiners that a beautiful woman has literally died of fright. The plot reveals how she reached the fatal stage of terror.